Muirhead was slowly getting a grip of himself. He began to review his options. Plainly he would allow nothing and no one to influence his conduct of the case. He could explain the situation to the Crown and his solicitor and then get the judge to stop the trial which could then be rerun with new counsel. However, things had gone well and it would not be in Gallagher’s interests to have the trial aborted. The witnesses who had been through the box had been alerted to the line of defence and the element of surprise would be totally lost second time around. On the face of it, the answer was simple. Detective Superintendent McAllister seemed to think he knew everything about everything, so why not dump the problem in his lap and then get on with the job in hand? McAllister could devote his time to chasing a ghost with a phoney Irish accent.

With his head in order, Muirhead was aware that he was still shaking. His stomach was churning. Staring at the image which still confronted him, a thought nagged at the back of his mind.

Maybe the Irish accent wasn’t phoney.

‘I think you’ll find that matters have been taken care of.’

‘Sure?’

‘What do you want? A written guarantee?’

‘I want to know that the job has been done, properly.’

‘I just told you that. It’s hardly my fault if you can’t grasp it.’

‘I don’t want to be told about it. I want to see evidence of it.’

‘You’ll get that next week. Now, the rest of my money. I’m bored with this climate, and the Guinness in the pub stinks.’

‘You’ve already had money. You’re getting fuck all more until I decide that you’ve done what I’m paying you to do.’

‘I must have misheard you. For a moment there I got the impression you were going back on our deal. I can feel myself getting quite upset. I do so hate to feel that someone has let me down.’

‘I’m not going back on anything. I agreed to pay you for results, not promises and certainly not ifs, buts and bloody maybes.’

‘I told you, the job’s done. That’s all you need to know. I’m good at what I do. If I say I’ll do something, I will. If I say I’ve done something, I have. Now, I expect to be paid, promptly and in full. I will not take it kindly if I am not paid or if I have to wait. Do I make myself clear?’

‘I will pay you in full, but only when I am satisfied with the quality of the workmanship. Do I make myself very clear?’

‘I’d think about that very carefully, if I were you.’